Alexei Navalny blames Vladimir Putin for poisoning him

Leading Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny says he believes President Vladimir Putin was responsible for his poisoning.

“I assert that Putin is behind this act, I don’t see any other explanation,” he told German news magazine Der Spiegel in an interview.

Germany, where Mr Navalny is recovering, says he was poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent. Its findings were confirmed by labs in France and Sweden.

The Kremlin denies any involvement.

Mr Navalny collapsed on a flight in Russia’s Siberia region on 20 August. He was transferred to the Charity hospital in the German capital Berlin two days later.

“If 30 people have access to a [chemical] agent, and not three, then it’s a global threat,” the 44-year-old told the magazine.

Speaking of his experience, Mr Navalny said: “You feel no pain, but you know you’re dying. Straight away.”

It was only because of “a chain of lucky circumstances” that he had been able to receive urgent medical care and survive, he said. Otherwise, “it would have just been a suspicious death”.

Mr Navalny was released from hospital in Berlin last week and is still receiving physiotherapy to aid his recovery.

The EU and a number of governments have called for Russia to investigate.

A nerve agent from the Novichok group was also used to poison Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England in 2018. They both survived, but a local woman, Dawn Sturgess, died after coming into contact with the poison.

Britain accused Russia’s military intelligence of carrying out that attack. Twenty countries expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats and spies. Moscow denied any involvement.